"That's the NFL. It's never the same. I learned that a long time ago. It doesn't matter who you are," says Pollack, part of a rather celebrated change in San Francisco. "When they moved out Joe Montana to Kansas City, I was thinking, 'If they can do that to Joe Montana, they're going to do that to me.' It's a business. Learn how to deal with it and move on."
The business at hand is integrating three drafted linemen into a re-building line recovering from a rough season it lost its rookie quarterback on a season-ending sack. Quarterback Joe Burrow got hit an average of eight times a game in his first nine weeks, but this Opening Day offensive line won't be that Opening Day offensive line.
Free-agent right tackle Riley Reiff replaces Bobby Hart. Carman figures to make a rookie Opening Day start at right guard. Price may be starting at center in the late stages of Hopkins' ACL rehab. Left guard is shaping up to be a free for all with incumbent Xavier Su'a-Filo taking on veterans Hakeem Adeniji, Michael Jordan and Quinton Spain. Jonah Williams may be the only returning Opening Day starter.
"He's a guy that we identified early and really liked," Pollack said of Carman. "Intelligent player. Obviously he competed at a high level at Clemson. He knows what a winning program looks like. He's good-sized, athletic, he can move. I expect those traits to develop.
"We like him at guard to start to compete and he's got the potential to swing out to tackle if and when we need it. That may be the case. He's a pretty good position flex, but right now let's start him out at guard."
All three draft picks, Carman, fourth-round tackle D'Ante Smith out of East Carolina and Georgia center Trey Hill, a semi nod to the Hopkins' injury in the sixth round, figure to make the roster. With Smith projected as a developing fourth tackle getting ready for 2022 with added weight, you can already see the tight squeeze and the fact they may have to keep ten linemen instead of the usual nine.
"(Smith has) outstanding length, 35-inch plus arms," Pollack said. "He shows great play demeanor on the field. He likes to finish. He brings that good, nasty disposition. He competed at the Senior Bowl mainly at guard, but he's more of a tackle. He showed his position flex. A real bright kid with a good football IQ.
"(Hill) played center at Georgia but he's big enough to play guard. He had great production in the SEC, by far the No. 1 college conference."
Now's a good time for a reminder on what they're facing with Pollack.
Last month Hopkins recalled, ""It's a grind throughout the year. It's not like just because it's week five you're going to slow down because it's the season. Pretty much the majority of the year we were doing the same stuff we started with in camp. It makes the games easier."
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